He steps out and closes the door. I flinch at the sound.

What the hell is wrong with me? If Aiden saw that, he would’ve used it against me.

When I don’t get out of the car, he rounds to my side and opens the door. His forearm rests on the hood of the Ferrari as he peers down at me like I’m a wonder.

From this angle, he’s so otherworldly, it’s unfair.

“Are you planning to stay there all day?” he asks.

“No way in hell am I leaving this car.”

His poker face is on as he speaks in a detached tone, “Don’t worry. I don’t bury them here.”

My eyes almost bulge out of their sockets as I gawk up at him.

He bursts into laughter, the sound echoing around us like an instrument.

A dark as hell instrument.

But for some reason, I’m caught in that laughter.

In the ease behind it.

In the honesty of it.

Aiden rarely laughs, and when he does, it’s usually a part of his mask. But right now? He appears genuinely happy. Something swells at the thought that I’m the reason behind it.

“Jesus.” He pulls at my cheek. “You should see your adorable face.”

I swat his hand away, trying to feign offence. “That’s not funny.”

“It isn’t. But you are.” He motions to the house-cottage. “Come on.”

I shake my head. “We can talk in here.”

I don’t get a warning.

One second I’m sitting in the car and the next, Aiden is releasing the seatbelt and pulling me out. He places an arm under my legs, the other at my back, and effortlessly throws me over his shoulder.

I’m so impressed by his strength and the confident ease he carries me with that I spend a few seconds speechless. All I can do is watch the ground moving under our feet.

It’s like I weigh nothing.

My head bumps against his back, pulling me out from my stupefaction. Blood rushes to my face from the upside-down position.

I hit his back with closed fists. “Put me down!”

It doesn’t faze him. Not one bit.

So I do it again.

I hit him with everything I have, screaming profanities at him.

He doesn’t get to act like an actual caveman after everything that’s happened. He doesn’t get to take me to his cave as if I always belonged there.

“Let me go!”

Smack.

I freeze, the sting heating my arse.

Did he just… spank me?

My cheeks heat in humiliation and something else I can’t put my finger on.

I try to squirm free. He smacks me again — harder this time.

I jolt, crying out in something a lot more different than pain.

What the…?

“Stay still or we can do this all day.” His hand caresses the flesh he just smacked, slowly, too slowly.

Tingles erupt on my skin, and an unintelligible sound escapes my lips.

“Hmm. Or would you like that, sweetheart?”

I clamp my lips shut because whatever I’ll say will only make my situation worse.

He doesn’t remove his hand from my arse as if it’s some sort of a threat. I remain still, not ready to experience those strange sensations again.

Once in front of the house, Aiden enters the combination — which means that this place belongs to him or his father.

Automatic light goes on as we walk down the hall.

He puts me to my feet in the middle of a medium-sized lounge area with grey sofas and a kitchen bar in sight.

Designer lamps hang from the ceiling giving the cottage a modern look that I didn’t notice from the outside. There’s a billiard table at the corner and a chessboard with an unfinished game on the coffee table.

It seems so much cosier than the King mansion. Homier, too.

When my gaze strays back to Aiden. He’s watching me watch the space with those drawn brows as if he’s trying to crack a code.

“Is this your place?” I ask in a light tone, trying to dissipate the tension.

“It’s the Meet Up.”

Oh.

So this is the Meet Up I heard so much about.

It’s basically a secret hideout for the four horsemen and Elites’ startup players.

Everyone at RES speaks about it like a secret society or something, but that’s probably because only selective players are allowed access.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“So no one interrupts us.”

I gulp, staring at him to read his mood. However, that damn poker face doesn’t slip.

If only he were a bit more accessible. He’s like a stone. Unchanging and unmovable.

I’m afraid of the answer, but I ask the question anyway. “Interrupt us from what?”

He sits on the sofa, legs wide apart, and props his elbow on the armrest. He leans against his fist and continues watching me.

The way his metal eyes bore into mine promises trouble.

Lots of it.

“Did you figure out what you have to pay for?” he asks in a neutral, low tone.

I instinctively take a step back so I’m not within arm’s reach.

Cole and Ronan were right. Aiden’s calm side is much more terrifying than his enraged one.

His calm side is a facade that he’s perfected so well to make you feel safe before he pounces and devours you alive.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I speak in my most confident tone.

“Here’s what I think, sweetheart. I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, but you’re playing the ignorance card.”

“I really don’t.”

He narrows his eyes before going back to his poker face. “How about a certain new boy that you’ve been shoving in my face?”

Oh. Shit.

He pulls his fingers up and counts, starting with his thumb. “You wore pretty dresses for him. Put on makeup. Perfume. You got into his car.” He pauses with only his pinky up and his eyes darkening to a frightening colour. “Oh, and you let him touch you.”

I take another step back.

It’s true that I want to be strong and stand up for myself, but I’m not an idiot.

This side of Aiden terrifies me. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever his demons are planning right now.

I need to be smart about picking my battles.

And this isn’t one I’d win.

“You let him fucking touch what’s mine.” His voice raises a notch with every word.

His features sharpen. It’s like I hit a switch and shed a light on Aiden’s demons.

I brought them out from the shadows. They stare at me with deranged anger and possessive obsessiveness.

And I know. I just know that I need to run.

Call it intuition or self-perseverance, but I feel it in my bones.

I need to escape him.

Whatever he has to tell me can wait until he’s no longer surrounded by a murderous gloom.

I whirl around and run, my breath catching in my throat.

I don’t make it three steps before an arm yanks me back. I cry out as I fall on the sofa head first. A suffocating weight slams on my back, covering me completely from behind.

Tremors jolt in my veins and my face nearly explodes from the heat.

“A-Aiden… w-what are you doing?”

He removes a stray strand of hair from my cheek with a gentleness that frightens me. “Do you remember what I said when you asked me what would I do if you cheat?”